Automatic telephone answering system



May 15, 1945.

E. L. PETERSON El AL AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE ANSWERING SYSTEM Filed Nov. 2,1943 IN VEN TOR-S fieyer Patented May 15, 1945 AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE itSYSTEM New York, and George W.

Edwin L. Peterson,

ANSWERING Papenmeyer, Malvernc, 'N.XY., .assignors. to AmericanTelephone and Telegraph Company;

a corporation oi New York Application November 2, 194s,s riaino. 603, 9611 Claims. r gor 179--6) This invention relates to a system for auto-Zmatically giving a recorded answer to an incoming telephone call andparticularly to means for automaticallysetting in operation the devicethat carries the recorded message and for connecting it to a-l ine uponthe receipt of an incomingcall and for automatically disconnecting thesaid'device from the line when the calling telephoneis disconnected. o po H y, In the use ofthe present invention a telephone subscriber, whoexpects to be awayfrom the premises on which his telephone set islocated, may impress a message upon a' record blank which will beautomatically set in motion and the message Willlbe picked up. andtransmitted to a calling party upon the receipt of :the ringing signalfrom the said calling partys telephone. The systemisfurthercharacterized by means by which the nessage maybe repeated until thecalling partys telephone is disconnected which will tendto ensure thatthe calling party hears the message. The record is made bythesubscriber, who expects to' be called during his absence, talking intothe transmitterof his telee 1 phone set, with which the automaticanswering device may be connected by manipulation of" a switch. Therecord may then beplayedback to the subscriber in order that hemay determinewhether it is satisfactory. o

Other and furtherfobjects of this invention will be apparent from thefollowing description h ead in connection with the attacheddrawe ingthat shows schematically one rorm of embodiment of the invention.

o In the drawing, L represents a line extending" quent operation ofrelays 22, 21 and 24, which;

in combination, serve to connect the message device to the lineandsubsequently to disconnect t and", I5 and [6, and l8, and opens thecontacts 5 and J9, and 6 and 20, and with the switch 12 in that positionthe message recorded on the blank 9 will be transmitted either to thetelephone set 2 or to the line L for transmission thereover to thedistantsubscriber, if an incomg me; call has, by the action of itsringingcurrent, caused the operation of relay 2] and the subse therefromwhen the calling party's telephone is disconnected. The inanner in whichthose broad h objects are attained, will be specifically describedhereinafter. o w 1 For "normaltelephoneoperation between the telephone 2and a distant telephone,the switch I is left in its nonnal unoperatedposition. The

line Lwill then be connected to the'subscribers set throughthe contacts3 andfi, and contacts 6 and 4. The mode of operationbf that circuit doesnotinvolve in any way the other apparatus shown on the drawing. t

" Let it beassumedthatja subscriber at telephone 2 desires to recordupon theblank 9 a message, to be given to all telephone callersd ur ingthe absence ofthe subscriber from his prem-j ises where the telephone 2is located. To record that message the switch I will be operated downwardly to close contacts 1 and B and the switch l2 will; be left in itsnormal position as shown in the drawing. The cutting head- 2B isloweredontn the blank 9 and the turntable is set in rotationby the operation ofthe switch 82 which to the central ofiice whichmay be of either themanual or automatic type through which ash-1" nections may beestablishedwithother telephones. The line L isconnectedto the telephone{through the contacts 3, 4, Stand 6 of the switch 1, when that switch isin its normal position. As shown in the drawing, switch [is designed tooperate downwardly and upwardly to establish desired connections in thecarryingout of the present invention. Whenoperated downwardly itclosesthe contacts 1 and 8, which serve in part to connect the subscriber'stelephone set 2 to-the rec-' 0rd blank 9 on the turntable III of therecording device for the purpose of recording the message intended to begiven to calling subscribers. The connection for impressin the spokenmessage upon the record blank includes the amplifier II and also theswitch 12 when thelatter is in its normal, unoperated position. When theswitch I is operated upwardly it closes its contacts I3 connects thepower circuit to themotor 28. A talking circuit will be establishedbetween the telephone 2 and the "cutting head 29 which may be tracedthrough contacts 6 and 8 of switch I; the winding. 30 ofthe transformer3i, through thebattery 32, shunted. by the condenser 33, V

thencefthrough the contacts 1 and 5 to the other side of thetelephoneset. 'One side of the secondary winding 34of transformer 3| isconnected by conductor 46 to one side of the volume control. resistance35 of the amplifier ll theother side of which is. connected byconductor. 36 through" contact 20 of switch I to the other side of thewinding 34 of the transformer 3 l'. The output sideof the amplifier IIhas its plateconnected to one side of the winding 31 of thetransformer38 the other side of which is connected through contact 39to thefilament side of the output of .the amplifier. .The secondary wind ing40 of thetransformer 38 is connected to a circu tthat includes contact41 of the switch l2,

the cutting head 29, conductor 42, contact H) of switch I and conductor43 of the other side of the winding 49. The cutting head 29willaccordingly record the message upon the blank 9 that is put into thetelephone 2.

After the recording of the message has been completed the subscriber maylisten to it, in or-- der to check its correctness, by operating theswitch! upwardly and by operating the switch 12 downwardly so as to openits contacts 39' and .4i and to close the contacts 44 and 45. A

circuit will thereupon be established that maytransformer 49 andconductor 50 to the filament side of-the output of the amplifier. Thesecondary winding 5| of the transformer 49 is connected through thecontacts of the switch 52 to the primary winding 530i trans-former 54across battery 66 through the winding of relay 2'! and the secondarywinding 55 of which is connected thecircuit that includes conductors.-.5'6' and 51. Conductor 56 is connected through contact i 5 with onesideof telephone set 2 and conductor 1 is connected through contact if ofswitch. I to the other side of said telephone set, the latterconnectionincluding the condenser 58. Thus the message recorded on theblank 9 will be amplified by the amplifier H and will be impressed uponthe-circuit that extends through the contacts of the switch 12, theswitch 52, the transformer 54,. and the contacts of switch I to thetelephone set 2, and: the'subscriber will hear the recorded mes; sage;,If it is desired to hear a reproduction of the message upon a loudspeaker, the switch 52 may be operated to close its contacts 59 and 64thereby connecting the output of 'the transformer 49-tothe loud-speaker6|, That device, however, is not essential since the message can beclearly heard through the receiver of the Celephone set 2, and theswitch. 52 and the loudspeaker may be omitted. v

To provide for a repetition of the message a device made by the RepeatoGraph Corporation is employed, in connection with the mechanism foroperating the turntable. By means of that device, recordings made upon asmall portion of the record at a time, may be caused to be repeatedsimply by moving two small adjusting slides. Regardless of the positionof the pick-up devicev 29 upon the record 9, when the calling partyhangs up his receiver, the repeating device will always repeat themessage from beginning to end as often as the calling party desires;This device does not have to beinplace when making a record but may beusedasameans of preventing the slipping of the record due to a weightbeing placed on the recording pick-up head to assist in such recording.

Upon leaving the premises, the telephone subscriber will restore thereceiver of his telephone set to its cradle and restore switch 82 to itsnormal position, and the automatic answering device will then bein'aposition to give to the calling parties the message recorded upon therecord. This isfaccomplished in the following manner: When ringingcurrent is transmitted over the line L from the central office it willflow through a circuit that includes contacts 3 and l 3 of switch I, thecondenser 6|, the left-hand winding of relay 2l, the left-hand contactof relay 25, and conductor 62 to the other side of the line. Thereuponrelay 2| will be operated, and upon closing its contact, it willestablish a circuit from the battcry 53 through the right-hand windingof that relay, the right-hand contact of relay 25 and the contact ofrelay 2|, thus locking the latter relay.

The operation of relay 22 follows from the operation of relay 2! as theresult of current flowing from the battery 64 through the upper windingof that relay and through the contacts of relays 25 and 2| to ground.The closing of contact 55 of relay 22 establishes a circuit from the thelamp 25 which will cause the operation of the said relay and the lamp.The operation of relay 2'! will close a circuit to provide power for themotor 28 and also for the energizationof the tubes of the amplifier ll.That circuitmay be traced from one'side of the power circuit 61, overconductor 58, contacts 69 and 10 of relay 2! and thence over conductor Hthrough the primary winding l2fof the transformer 13 to the other sideT4 of the power circuit. Current will also flow through the winding ofthe motor 28 and overconductor 15 to the said other side of the powercircuit, and the motor and the amplifier will thereby be set inoperation. Contacts 15 and 11 of relay 22 will also be closed but it isimportant to note that the contact 16 is closed before contact 18 ofrelay 22 is opened. By the closing of contact 16 before contact '18opens, a circuit will beestablished from thelowersme of line L overconductor 62, through contact 16, resistance 83, contact 18, conductor19, contacts 13 and 3 of switch I. to the other side. of the said line.The effect of that is to trip the ringing, device at the central omceand thereby to stop the. application of ringing current to the line.Thereafter contact 11 closes and that permits the flow of direct currentfrom the centralv office battery-through relay 24, the circuit. forwhich may be traced from the lower conductor of line- L through contact16, conductor 80,

winding and contact 8| of relay 24. Relay 25 will also be operated,which will release relay 2|.

The message picked up from the record by the device 29 will be impressedupon a circuit connected to the input'of the amplifier, the said circuitincluding conductor 42, contacts l6 and I8, of switch I, conductor 36,connected to one side of the volume control resistance 35 of theamplifier, thence over conductor 41 and contact 45 of switch l2 to theother side of the pick-up device 29. The message upon the record, asthus amplified, will be impressed "by the output of the amplifier upon;the circuit that extends from the plate of the last tube to contact 44of switch l2, through the winding 48 to the filament side of theamplifier. The amplified message will be impressed by the transformer 49upon the winding 53 of transformer 54, and, in turn, upon the circultthat extends from one side of the winding 55 over conductor 80, contact16 and conductor 62' to the lower 'side of the line L. and from theupper side of. that line through contacts 3 and I3'of switch I,conductor 19, contact ll of relay] 22, the winding of, relay 24 .to theother side of thewinding 55 t transformer 54; The voicecurrents,'representing the recorded "message, will thus be impressed upon the lineL and will be transmitted thereover to the calling subscriber'stelephone continuously until the calling subscriberhangs" up hisreceiver and the connections between the lines of the calling and calledparties are removed at the central oflice either automatically ormanually. u The removal of the connection at the central oilice willautomatically stop the flow of direct current over the line by whichrelay 24 was energized. Thatrelay will accordingly be released auditwill in turn release relay 22, which was locked through the contact 8|of relay 24. The breaking of contact 65will open the circuit throughthe'winding of relay 2'! and the lamp ZB whichwill cause'relay 21 to bereleased, and the light to be extinguished. In turn, the power circuitthrough the motor 28 and the amplifier H will be opened,thus causingbothof those cle= vices to cease to operate. Relay will likewise beole-energized, thereby permitting its armatures to fall back and closetheir contacts. Thesystem is therefore restored to its normal conditionfor the giving of the-recorded message to the nexttelephone subscriberwhen ringing current is again transmittedover the line L. I

While'this invention has been disclosed as embodiedfin a particular formand arrangement of parts, it is capable of embodiment in other anddifferent forms without departing from the spirit and scope of theappended claims. d

What is claimed is: I 1 I 1; In a system for automatically giving arecorded answer to an incoming telephone call. the combination with atelephone line ofa recording device upon which a predetermined answer tobe given to each incoming telephone call may be recorded'means operableby the receipt of an incoming call to automatically connect the saidrecording device to' the said line and to cause it to impress therecorded answer upon the said line for transmission to the callingtelephone, I

and meansoperable solely upon the disconnection of the calling telephoneto stop the operation of the said recording device.

2. In a system for automatically giving a recorded answer to an incomingtelephone call, the

combination with a subscriber's telephone line extending from a centraloflice to a subscribers telephone set, of means at the central olllce toapply ringin current to the said line, a message lice and to impressupon the said line the said recorded message.

3. The system defined by claim 2 further characterized by the repetitiveapplication of the said message to the said line until thedisconnectionof the calling telephone occurs.

4. The system defined by claim 2 further characterized by the inclusionof means to stopthe operation of the message reproducing device and todisconnect that device from the said line upon the disconnection of thecalling telephone.

l 51m a telephonesystem for automatically "gi v ing a r'ecorded answerto a" calling party, the

combination with a'telephon'e line havingl'a telephonesetconnected tothe distantend thereof of another telephone set normallyconnectedto thenear end of thes'aid line, a. message reproducingdevice capable ofhaving recorded thereon in said message reproducin devicewhereby the recorded message will be impressed upon the line for transmission to thecalling telephone, and means controlled by the disconnection ofthecalling telephone to effectively disconnect the said message reproducingdevice from the said line whenever the calling telephone is also effectively disconnected from that line.

6. In a telephone system for automatically givinga recorded answer to acalling party, the combination f comprising a telephone line havingconnectedth'ereto the telephone set of the calling party, a'source ofringing current and a central office battery-to supply talking current,both connected to the said line, a telephone' answering circuitconnectedlto the said line at thecalled partys station, the saidanswering circuit including meansresponsivetothe application of theringing current to the said lineto'set in operation the answeringdeviceof the said circuit,the said responsive means being arranged 'toprovide a sh'unt'path of such resistance as to automatical- 1y effectthe disconnection of the source of ringing current from the said lineand'also being sin I ranged to automatically stop the operation of theanswering device upon the disconnection of the source of talking currentfrom the said line. I

'7. In a telephone system for automatically giving a recorded answer toa calling party, the combination withya telephone line having meansconnected therewith to generate a ringing current, of means connected tothe said line and responsive to the said ringing current to transmit arecorded message to the said telephone line, the said meansincluding ananswering de-- vice upon which a, message has been recorded fortransmission to each calling party, a, relay i responsive to the saidringing current and thereupon adapted to be looked, a second relayresponsive to the operation of the said first mentioned relay and havinga plurality of contacts, one of which is adapted to close before asecond contact opens to establish a shunt path for the ringing currentof such resistance as to effeet the disconnection of ringing currentfrom said line, a source of power, a, third relay adapted to beenergized by the said second 'relay to connect the source of power tothe-said answering device whereby it will be set in operation totransmit the recorded message over the said telephone line to thecalling party. l

8. In a, telephone system for automatically giving a recorded answer toa, calling party the combination with a telephone line to which thetelephone set of the calling party-may be connected, of a source ofringing current adapted to be connected to the said line to signal thecalled party, a relay responsive to the ringing current and adapted tobe locked'upon being energized by the said ringing current a secondrelay having a plurality of contacts and'adapted to be; energized by;the operation of the first mentioned relay; the said second relay beingarranged to zclose. one of its contacts before the opening of another'toprovide a shunt path for theysaid ringingcurrent of such resistance andof alimited'duration. as to effect thedisconnection of the .said sourceof ringing current from the said line, an answering circuit includingaturn-table having thereon a record carry-. ing an answer to be given toeach-calling party, amotor for operating the turn-table, an amplifier, asourceof power to operate the said motor andthe said amplifier, a thirdrelay operable upon the operation of the said second relay to connectthe; power source to the-said motor and the said' amplifienand a pick-updevice connected tothe inward side of the said amplifier toapply;-;thereto the said answer, and means to from the disconnection ofthe calling partys telephone from the'saidline whereby thesaid answeringcircuit will be effectively connected from. thesaid line. i

10.'In a telephone system for automatically giving a recordedanswer to acalling party,-the combination Y comprising a. telephone line, to whicha calling partys telephone set may be. connected, theconnectionincluding a source of ringing current and a source of talking current,a-telephone answering circuit, the said answer-. ing circuit" includingswitching means responsive .to the said ringing current to connect tothe said line an answering device including a record upon which ananswering message has beenrecorded, means to-set the'said device inoperation,- 'and. means to apply the recorded answer to thelinathe saidswitching means ineluding means to: provide avshunt path to an propriateresistance and of a limited duration across: thesaid line to stop the=application '01 ringing current, to the line, and also including meansresponsive to the cessation of -the flow of. talking current over theline to efiectively disconnect the answering circuit from the line."

I 11.7 In a telephone system for automatically giving a recorded answerto a calling party, the combination comprising a telephone line to whicha calling Party's telephone set is con nected; the said line havingconnected thereto a source of ringing current and a battery to supplytalking current to the line, and a' tele-'- phone answering circuit at acalled party's station, the said circuit including a. relayresponsive'to the ringing current applied to the said line and adaptedto be locked upon energization thereof; a second relay controlled bysaid first mentioned relay having a pluralityof contacts, one of whichis arranged .to close before another opens to-provide a, shunt pathacross the said line of suitable resistance and for-limited-duration toeffect the disconnection of the Source of ringing. current from the saidline, an answering device connected to said answeringcircuit and havingan amplifier associated therewith, a' third-relay controlled by the saidsecond relay-to apply power to .the said answering device to set it inoperation and also to energize the said amplifier, whereby a recordedanswer may be given to thecalling party, and a fourth relay energized bythe fiow of current from the said battery adapted to lock the :saidvsecond mentionedrelay, and a fifth relay energizedby the operation ofthe fourth relay and. adapted to release the said first relay whereby,upon disconnection of the battery supplying the talking current, thesaid fourth and the said second relays will be released and theansweringdevice will be stopped and the answering circuit will beeffectively disconnected from the-said line.

i EDWIN L. PETERSON.

GEORGE W.-PAPEN1V1EYER.'

